Supreme Court to hear plea over safety of schoolchildren on Sept 15

New Delhi, September 12The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on September 15 a plea filed by two women lawyers seeking implementation of existing guidelines to ensure safety and well-being of children in schools across the country.A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and AM Khanwilkar said it had already issued notice on a similar plea filed by the father of the child, who was brutally murdered at Gurugram’s Ryan International School.“We will tag it (writ petition) with the earlier one,” the bench said and fixed the PIL, filed by two practising apex court lawyers Abha Sharma and Sangeeta Bharti, for hearing on Friday.

The lawyers, in their petition, have sought implementation of various existing guidelines on safety of school-going children.They have also suggested some additional guidelines to ensure that the responsibility is fastened on the schools with regard to safety of children from the moment they get into the school bus/vehicle.On Monday, the court had issued notice to the Centre, Haryana Police, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the CBI on a plea filed by the father of the child seeking a CBI probe into the matter.A Class-2 student of the high-profile Ryan International School in Gurugram was found dead on the morning of September 8 after his throat was slit with a sharp-edged weapon, allegedly by 42-year-old bus conductor Ashok Kumar inside the toilet as the boy resisted a bid to sodomise him.His plea has sought setting up of a committee headed by a former apex court judge for suggesting guidelines to be framed and implemented under the observance of the top court.It has also sought a “free, fair, independent and fearless investigation including an inquiry and investigation by the CBI” under the supervision of the court.The plea also sought a direction for ensuring safety and security of family of the deceased boy. PTI